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The purposes of the study are to describe characteristics of the voice change in sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade choir students using Cooksey's voice-change classification system and to determine if the singing self-efficacy of adolescent males is affected by the voice change, grade level, and experience. Participants (N = 80) consisted of volunteer sixth-grade, seventh-grade, and eighth-grade males enrolled in a public school choral program. Participants completed the Singing Self-Efficacy Scale for Emerging Adolescent Males (SSES). After completing the SSES, participants were individually audio-recorded performing simple vocal exercises to attain each boy's vocal range. Results revealed that 45% of sixth-grade participants, 48.15% of seventhgrade participants, and 87.88% of eighth-grade participants were classified as changing voices. Results of a three-way between-subjects ANOVA revealed no main effect for voice-change stage or grade level. A main effect was found for experience, favoring participants with 3 or more years of experience in choir. No statistically significant interactions were found.

The purposes of this study were to compare the age of onset of the voice change in African American, White, and Hispanic male students, as well as to describe characteristics of the changing male voice in fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students, using Cooksey’s maturation stages. Participants included volunteers from two urban elementary schools, five suburban elementary schools, one suburban middle school, and one urban middle school (African American n = 62, White n = 58, and Hispanic n = 77). Participants were recorded individually performing three ascending and three descending glissandi on an “ah” syllable. Results indicated that approximately 46% of fourth-grade participants, 62% of fifth-grade participants, and 67% of sixth-grade participants were classified as having changing voices. Results of a one-way, between-subjects ANOVA revealed no significant main effect for ethnicity, although a larger percentage of African American participants’ voices were classified as changing voices as compared with those of Hispanic and White participants. The overall mean age of onset for participants in this study was approximately 11.20 years of age.